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Blues make light work of lacklustre Foxes

London - Chelsea were rarely troubled as they cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Leicester City at Stamford Bridge in Saturday's early Premier League kick-off.

The Blues started the encounter on the front foot, and claimed the lead after just seven minutes through in-form striker Diego Costa.

After seeing David Luiz strike the post with a well taken free-kick, Chelsea went on to double their advantage when Eden Hazard slotted home in the 33rd minute.

And the result was put beyond any doubt in the 80th minute, the rejuvenated Victor Moses firing the ball past Kasper Schmeichel at the near post.

Chelsea started the game like a side needing to prove a point and they did that to good effect, much to the delight of under pressure manager Antonio Conte.

Conte deployed his favoured 3-4-3 formation against the Premier League Champions, giving Leicester strike duo Jamie Vardy and Ahmed Musa no joy at all.

It took the Blues just seven minutes to open the scoring, when Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton were caught ball watching during a corner-kick just after Kasper Schmeichel made a sharp save at his near-post from Victor Moses to concede the corner.

The corner came in low with midfielder Nemanja Matic flicking it on with his foot and Diego Costa - totally unmarked at the back post - had all the space in the world to hammer it home.

Chelsea were in cruise control after scoring, with Matic and N'golo Kante enjoying the freedom to roam in front of their area.

David Luiz hit the post with a brilliant free-kick attempt from 25-yards-out after his side-foot technique helped it over the defensive wall.

However, the second goal came shortly thereafter, which was no more than Chelsea deserved.

Matic played a hopeful through ball that was poorly dealt with by Luis Hernandes as he clattered Pedro to the floor - the diminutive winger somehow managed to knock the ball on while on the ground, allowing the onrushing Eden Hazard to round Foxes keeper Schmeichel before firing into an unguarded net.

Having failed to match their opponents in the first half, Leicester redoubled their efforts after the break as they looked to reduce the deficit.

Ahmed Musa and Marc Albrighton both had a chance to pull one back in the early stages of the second stanza, but failed to hit the target.

And they were made to rue those missed chances as Chelsea went on to add a third with ten minutes remaining, Moses adding his name to the scoresheet with smart finish at the near post.

Chelsea had one last chance to add another goal to their tally in the closing stages of the contest, but left-back Marcos Alonso fired high and wide from the left side of the box after collecting a neat pass from Costa.


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